<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
VOID
\n\u00a92026 Sanelisiwe Ndlovu Hoko
\nCHAPTER FOUR
\nSIPHOKAZI
\nIt\u2019s evening, and I haven\u2019t eaten since Sinenhlanhla called to say Lihle is in Kezi. I don\u2019t believe she\u2019s there for work. What are the odds that she\u2019d land at the exact rural school where my daughter works? That\u2019s not coincidence, that\u2019s hunting. My gut twists like a wrung cloth. She\u2019s been looking. She got a lead. And now she\u2019s confirming it.
\n\u201cMom, can I have more ice cream?\u201d
\nChristy stands next to the fridge, bowl in hand and spoon in mouth. At fourteen, she still behaves like a five-year old.
\n\u201cBefore supper?\u201d I ask flatly.
\n\u201cYes, Mom! I love it.\u201d
\n\u201cIce cream is a dessert. You eat it after supper. You can\u2019t just\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cIf my girl wants ice cream, let her have it,\u201d Nigel cuts in as he walks in. I hadn\u2019t even heard his car pull in. \u201cSince when do we run this house on timetables?\u201d
\n\u201cFine. She can have the whole fridge. I don\u2019t care.\u201d I snap. She had ice cream the second she walked in from school. Now she wants more before supper. The word \u2018dessert\u2019 might as well be Greek to her.
\nChristy whoops and opens the fridge. Saved by Daddy again.
\nNigel drops shopping bags onto the counter. \u201cWhen did it rain enough to fill up rivers?\u201d
\n\u201cWhat river?\u201d
\n\u201cThis one in my house.\u201d
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t have a river\u2026\u2026.Nigel, you\u2019re not funny.\u201d
\nHe grins. \u201cI left you this morning calm, fed in the bedroom and sane. What happened while I was gone?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019ve been calling you all day. You didn\u2019t answer.\u201d
\n\u201cMeeting lasted longer than I imagined. Phone died and I realized I forgot my charger.\u201d He kisses my forehead and slides his hands onto my hips. \u201cIs that why you\u2019re angry? Denying my child ice cream like she committed treason?\u201d
\nI step back. \u201cWe need to talk. In the bedroom. Now.\u201d
\nHe follows, closing the door behind us.
\n\u201cEmergency,\u201d I say, voice low and sharp. \u201cLihle is in Kezi. Right now. And ice cream is not food by the way. Christy needs to learn to eat proper food.\u201d
\n\u201cWho\u2019s Lihle? Do I know her?\u201d
\n\u201cLihle Ndlovu. From Plumtree. Butholezwe\u2019s youngest sister.\u201d
\nNigel frowns. \u201cVisiting?\u201d
\nI roll my eyes. Sometimes I wonder how this man became an Army Chaplain. \u201cVisiting who, Nigel? Does she have relatives in Kezi? She\u2019s circling my children like prey.\u201d
\n\u201cHow old is she, anyway? Sixteen?\u201d
\n\u201cShe was sixteen when her brother died.\u201d
\n\u201cThen she\u2019s a grown woman now.\u201d
\n\u201cUsumfuna? You want anything in a skirt Nigel. You don\u2019t have boundaries.\u201d
\nHe chuckles. \u201cWhoa. Where\u2019s that coming from?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m telling you my kids\u2019 lives could be in danger! She could kidnap them, poison them against us, rewrite their whole history! And all you do is drool over the kidnapper like she\u2019s your next parishioner. We should be driving to Kezi now with the whole army to deal with Lihle.\u201d
\nNigel\u2019s eyes widen. \u201cArmy? Kidnapper? I\u2019m lost. Didn\u2019t you say she\u2019s just visiting?\u201d
\nI sink onto the bed. He sits beside me.
\n\u201cShe\u2019s there for work,\u201d I admit. \u201cBut what if she tells them the truth? What if they believe her?\u201d
\n\u201cShe saw them?\u201d
\n\u201cSaw? She already spoke to Sinenhlanhla. For now she doesn\u2019t believe her. That\u2019s our anchor. She\u2019s steel. I asked her not to say a word to Kayise. I hope she won\u2019t.\u201d
\nHe nods slowly. \u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d
\n\u201cI know I\u2019m right. Which is why I say we round up a few boys in camouflage and drive to Kezi tonight. Scare Lihle off. Make her disappear.\u201d
\n\u201cNo,\u201d he says firmly. \u201cThat\u2019s extreme. It draws attention. We can\u2019t make her a forbidden fruit. You know how that ends, they\u2019ll chase her.\u201d
\n\u201cSo, what do we do?\u201d
\nHe hesitates. \u201cMaybe\u2026 tell them the truth.\u201d
\nI stare at him. \u201cWhat truth?\u201d
\n\u201cThey\u2019re adults now, Sipho. It won\u2019t kill them to know their paternal side. To have a relationship\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cNever.\u201d I hold up both hands like a shield. \u201cI\u2019m not signing my own prison sentence. Yellow doesn\u2019t look good on me.\u201d
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t mean that,\u201d he says quickly. \u201cI meant\u2026 letting them know where they come from, only.\u201d
\nI shoot him with a warning glare. He raises his palms. \u201cIt was just a suggestion.\u201d
\n\u201cA stupid suggestion.\u201d
\n\u201cJust like your stupid idea of invading Kezi with the army.\u201d
\nI exhale. \u201cLet\u2019s not fight. I\u2019m just\u2026 scared. If the truth gets out\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cNo one will ever know,\u201d he says, pulling me into a hug. \u201cYou raised them to believe you\u2019re their only truth. Twenty years of that won\u2019t unravel because some woman shows up.\u201d
\nI nod. \u201cYeah. I thought as much.\u201d
\nBut his words don\u2019t calm the storm in my chest. My pulse won\u2019t slow. I hate Lihle for recognising Sinenhlanhla. What was I expecting though? I birthed a living echo of Butholezwe. Those eyes. That jaw. That stride. The Ndlovu blood doesn\u2019t whisper it shouts. Once you\u2019ve seen one, you know them all.
\nThat\u2019s why Nigel refused to stay with Butho\u2019s family when we married. He said it felt like sleeping with his wife in the same house as her dead husband\u2019s ghost. And after what we did to Butho\u2026 yeah. No one wants to stare a ghost in the face.
\nLIHLE
\nI can\u2019t sleep. Sinenhlanhla\u2019s face is burned into my mind, fierce, wounded and furious. I don\u2019t know whether to feel joy or grief. Joy that I\u2019ve found them. Grief that she wants nothing to do with me. They were poisoned against us. Against their own blood.
\nMr. Khabo told me the girls were doing well at school, but struggling with basic needs. No wonder they didn\u2019t go to university.
\nWhat haunts me most is her accusation; \u2018You were educated with my father\u2019s money.\u201d
\nWe never touched Butho\u2019s pension. We never applied for it. It was Siphokazi who came to us just a year after he died. She begged for a death certificate so she could claim the benefits. She said the children were struggling. Since they weren\u2019t legally married, to get the certificate, she needed a family witness.
\n\u201cYou should\u2019ve brought the kids,\u201d my mother said gently.
\n\u201cDo they need children to issue a death certificate?\u201d
\n\u201cTo see them, Siphokazi. Especially the newborn. You know how she was conceived. More rituals must be done on her. she might die if not strengthened in the African way.\u201d
\nSiphokazi agreed, though we saw the dismissal in her eyes. \u201cI\u2019ll bring her. For now, help me get that certificate. The child will die of hunger before any rituals.\u201d
\nShe got the papers. Promised to return in two months with the children.
\nThen she went silent.
\nPhones went dead. Addresses vanished. My father travelled to Bulawayo, trying to retrace her. He spent the whole week, knocking on strangers\u2019 doors, but to no avail.
\nJust thinking of how many times my mother was hospitalised from grief, from stress, brings tears I can\u2019t hold back.
\nI wipe my face and dial her number.
\n\u201cWhy do you love night calls Lihle?\u201d she answers, voice thick with sleep.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s just after eight. Don\u2019t tell me you\u2019re already sleeping.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s raining here. I\u2019m already in bed.\u201d
\n\u201cThen you won\u2019t sleep anymore after what I\u2019m about to tell you.\u201d
\n\u201cIf it\u2019s bad news, don\u2019t tell me now. My blood pressure can\u2019t take it.\u201d
\nAh, the drama of my father\u2019s wife. I laugh softly. \u201cIt\u2019s good news. I\u2019m deployed in Kezi High. For the next three days I will be here. Guess who I met.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s your long-lost boyfriend. Every city, you have a man.\u201d
\n\u201cMom!\u201d I laugh. She chuckles back. \u201cIt\u2019s no secret you love boys my girl.\u201d
\n\u201cYou\u2019re wrong. I met Sinenhlanhla Ndlovu, Butholezwe\u2019s first daughter. Your granddaughter.\u201d
\n\u201cIn Kezi?\u201d
\n\u201cYes. She works at the school. As a receptionist, I think.\u201d
\n\u201cAmen! GPS yebapasi yehinga ngwenu. Zvigwile Butho, igwa. I knew that my son will track his kids nommater how she hides them. Fight my son.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere does Butho fit in? I found his kids, and\u2014\u201d
\n\u201cHe\u2019s bringing his blood home,\u201d she whispers, voice suddenly thick with something ancient. \u201cTwenty years and now he\u2019s done waiting. It\u2019s game on, Lihle. He won\u2019t rest until they walk through that gate.\u201d
\nI fall silent. This isn\u2019t the reaction I expected. No wailing. No emotional ululation. Just this eerie certainty that Butho\u2019s spirit is fighting for his kids. Where does she get it?
\n\u201cThis is perfect,\u201d she adds, now fully awake and energized. \u201cGala pasi ulinge, Lihle. Watch and learn.\u201d
\nShe\u2019s taken over the conversation entirely. The tired woman who claimed to be asleep is gone. Now she\u2019s weaving prophecies. I press the phone closer to my ear and listen. Nothing is making sense to me. I expected her to be asking about how Sinenhlanhla is, if we spoke and if I saw the younger one whom we don\u2019t even know is a girl or boy.
\nI\u2019m relieved though because she\u2019s not collapsing like how she always did each time Sinenhlanhla\u2019s name was mentioned.
\n.
\n.
\n.
\n.
\n.
\n.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VOID \u00a92026 Sanelisiwe Ndlovu Hoko CHAPTER FOUR SIPHOKAZI It\u2019s evening, and I haven\u2019t eaten since Sinenhlanhla called to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-void-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18989,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18978\/revisions\/18989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}